


Horror and Literature

by murmaowabao



Category: Naruto
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, F/M, ShikaIno - Freeform, Smut, sasuhina - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-10-23
Updated: 2016-03-15
Packaged: 2018-04-27 17:01:20
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 7,134
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5056615
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/murmaowabao/pseuds/murmaowabao
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Somehow, Hinata and Sasuke are in more than one class together; however, it's not just class that Sasuke sees Hinata. It's everywhere. Hallways, stores, restaurants, bars... the whole shebang. Then one day, Sasuke and Hinata are paired up to work on an assignment together.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Not Everything Has a Good Start, Does it?

**Author's Note:**

> Hopefully you'll enjoy this... I haven't written fanfics in years, I feel so rusty... T-T

    Maybe it was the way her hair was pin straight every single day, with no bows, barrettes, or pins. Maybe it was how she timidly passed by everyone in the hallways. Maybe it was her handwriting–how every letter was so neat that it could have been a computer font. Maybe it was her baggy shirts and how they gave her no shape, no curve. Maybe, just maybe, it was just him paying too much attention to her.

    How could he not?

    She was in almost every single class he was in.  _For a university, the chance of us having more than one class together would be slim to none_ , he thought. The raven-haired male sighed as he entered his Creative Writing class. He sat in the middle row towards the back. He carefully placed his tan messenger bag on the floor next to his too-small desk, and quietly sat down. He scratched the back of his neck, pulling on the tag that flipped out of his black sweater; he leaned over towards his bag, pulling out a black pen, and then looked at the board.

    On the board was the name of authors, and stars next to a few of them. He quietly reached for the messenger bag to pull out a one-subject black notebook, placing it on the desk. As he opened it, he noticed the familiar lavender scent wisping through the light breeze in the classroom.

    “Um, excuse me…,” she sheepishly whispered, placing her black backpack on the floor next to the desk in front of his. “ I-is it okay if I sit here?” she asked nervously.

    “Go ahead.” He replied flatly; he didn’t really know why she was asking him, it wasn’t like he cared anyway. As he clicked his pen, he turned a page in his notebook to a fresh page as students came walking into the classroom sluggishly. However, his eyes would always go back to her, his default focal point. The back of her hair was boring, like her boring pin-straight hair, and her boring clothes, and her boring black backpack. It amazed him how much he paid attention to her, that it really annoyed him.

  “Okay, everybody,” a blonde-haired female came in, carrying a big, black briefcase; her hair flew back with the fabric of her green sweater as she walked towards the board, setting the briefcase on the desk. “I know it’s only our third meeting his week, but I suspect you all did the assignment I emailed everyone a few days ago. She didn’t bother looking at the puzzled and scared faces of the students–she took out a black marker, and wrote her name in big, bold letters–TSUNADE SENJU.

    “It’s okay if you don’t have it with you today, but I expect it with you by the next meeting, printed out in MLA format, which should be the following Monday. If you do have it, please come over here and turn it into this black slot.” She turned around and placed her hand on the slot firmly. As some students shifted in their seats, the raven-haired male stood up, pulling a few sheets of paper stapled together. He silently walked down the classroom, ignoring the stares of the students. He bluntly dropped the paper onto the slot next to the professor’s hand, and turned around, almost bumping into her.

    That damn girl.

    “Excuse me,” she timidly whispered, head looking down as she moved past him stiffly, placing a packet above his carefully.

    “Well,” Tsunade Senju boldly started. “It seems Mister Sasuke Uchiha and Miss Hinata Hyuuga are the only ones who are serious about this course.” She cracked a small smile through her hard face. Hinata, shyly smiling at the teacher, also felt her face warm up. She immediately turned and walked back to the desk, quickly glancing at Sasuke, who had been staring at the floor.

     “This class is going to start off with horror stories,” Tsunade began, turning around to face the board again. “Has anybody ever read Stephen King’s works?” she asked, writing his name down in large letters. She turned around to see a few hands raised; what Sasuke didn’t realize, was that Hinata was in front of him, hand raised halfway. Hm. He raised his hand halfway as well, remembering a few pages he read of Misery. She pointed into the general direction where Hinata and Sasuke sat.

    “Sasuke, which book have you read by him?” She asked, voice projecting throughout the classroom; it echoed slightly. Sasuke silently brought his hand back to his side before he opened his mouth slightly.

    “Misery.” He replied coolly.

    “Good choice,” Tsunade replied, then looked at Hinata. “And you, Hinata?” Hinata fidgeted. Sasuke blinked.

    “U-um, I’ve read almost all of them…” She quietly replied.  _Hm, so she likes horror_ , Sasuke mentally noted.  _Why do I care_?

    “Well then, you might enjoy what we will be doing for the next four weeks,” Tsunade opened her briefcase, pulling out a stack of papers, and a large book. “I hope you looked at the syllabus, because if you did, you know that we are going to read The Shining and watch the movie in class. Who has the book on them?” Tsunade’s voice echoed throughout the large classroom. Only a few shuffling sounds moved around the room. Sasuke silently pulled out the book. As he opened his messenger bag, he noticed Hinata’s long hair touching the floor–she reached in for the book out of her backpack. It looks like she’s just as prepared for school as we should be. Quietly sighing, Sasuke sat back up, setting the book on top of the desk.

    “I expect you to finish the book two weeks from now,” she started, picking the book up. “Once you finish this, we will be taking a written test. Then, you will have two more weeks to watch a Stephen King movie, and write an essay on it.” Tsunade grinned, looking around the classroom. She looked a little evil, or so Sasuke thought, but he didn’t care much. He briefly thought about the weak-hearted, who probably would not be able to handle the horror of Stephen King. He shrugged it off, not exactly feeling bad.

    Tsunade then began the lesson with the outline of the first chapter of the book, assuring the students that if they got too scared perhaps they should be reading in groups rather than alone at night. There was something fiery about her stare as she talked about Stephen King, and it only amused Sasuke. The raven-haired male wasn’t afraid of such trivial things like a fictional book. He quietly copied the notes Tsunade wrote on the board, listening to her ramble on about gods knew what.

    With only ten minutes left of the class, she dismissed everybody. Hinata got up, walking out of the classroom with her backpack on one shoulder, her long hair resting on the other. She waved goodbye to Tsunade, wishing her a good day.

    Sasuke sighed, getting up irritably.

                                                                      *****

    It was as if Ino wasn’t listening, because no matter what Hinata said, Ino still did the same thing: talk to her. Hinata really didn’t mind her talking, but sometimes she really wished that she would take a hint when she didn’t respond. The blonde girl sighed as she pulled out another dress from the closet, staring at herself in the mirror. She let out another frustrated squeal, staring back at Hinata.

    “Hinata-chan, are you listening?!” Hinata looked up from her book, looking back at Ino. Her long hair had been curled and pinned to the side, and her eyeshadow was smokey. It was a Friday night, and it was her usual date night with Shikamaru. She always had the same problem, wondering what she was going to wear, asking Hinata what would look good on her. Since the semester started, Ino already threw seven different dresses into the hamper in frustration, because it “wasn’t appropriate for this date.” Hinata silently let out a small sigh, then grazed her pale eyes along the pink dress Ino had on already, versus the blue dress that had been in her hands. Hinata stared at the smokey eyes, then stared at the blue dress.

    “Wear the blue one,” Hinata said quietly. “It will match your eye shadow.” She continued to read the book. She already read this book–in fact, it was The Shining, which Tsunade had already assigned them. Still, it didn’t stop her from wanting to read it again. She probably shouldn’t have gone back to reading her book, because Ino sighed and began rambling yet again.

    “Yeah, but it won’t make my eyes look good!” she complained. Hinata furrowed her brows, not sure what else to do.

    “Keep the pink dress?” She asked absentmindedly. She didn’t want to pay attention to Ino, but she knew that the way to push her buttons was to completely ignore her. 

    “No, you don’t understand–” Ino was interrupted by a knock on the door. A loud gasp came from Ino. Apparently, Shikamaru was early to the date, which was completely out of character for him. Usually he was late, which even surprised Hinata. Ino quickly ran to the door, opening it just a crack.

    “What are you doing here so–” Ino froze. She opened the door some more, then stood back a bit as she gave room for the person to enter. Hinata quietly looked up, eyes widened, eyebrows furrowed slightly.

    “S-Sasuke-san?” She asked, looking at him with her lips parted open as if she were about to say something else. She wondered what he was doing here, until she saw the raven-haired male holding onto a familiar lavender-colored notebook and black pen in the spiral.  _I must have forgotten it in Lit class…_  Sasuke walked in silently, dropping the notebook in front of her.

    “You left it in class. If I didn’t see it, it would have been gone. Watch your things and don’t be irresponsible.” Sasuke spat, turning back around and leaving. Hinata looked down at the notebook, shocked. She wondered why Sasuke took time to give her notebook back. Before she could thank him, he disappeared. Ino stared at the notebook in shock. Perhaps it wasn’t the best time to remember that Ino had been crazy about Sasuke back when they were children.

    Hinata stared at Ino, who bit her lip. She remembered when they were seven years old, and how she was obsessed with Sasuke, always talking to him, always trying to get his attention, always staring at him, always talking to him. Of course, he never paid much attention to her, let alone anybody. In fact, the only person he actually talked to was Naruto…

     _Naruto_.

    For some reason, his name sounded like the familiar taste of nostalgia, followed by a churn in the pale-eyed girl’s stomach. She bit her lip and wondered what he was up to these days, but she decided to let go of that and focus back to the present, what was going to happen from then on. Hinata blinked, then looked at Ino again, who looked at Hinata, expression the same.

    “Why did he have your notebook?” She asked, looking at Hinata. Hinata wasn’t sure if she was angry or worried, or both. Hinata bit her lip just slightly.

    “I-I left it in class, Ino-chan…” Hinata replied to her honestly. She wondered how Sasuke found their dorm, and she wondered why he came by to even give it to her. She wondered why he didn’t give it to her that Monday. She didn’t think too much of it, but she didn’t like the way Ino kept staring at her when she was really just trying to finish reading the chapter because she had been stuck onto the same exact sentence, wondering when Shikamaru would come by so Ino would leave and come back on Sunday, because that’s how it has always been since the semester started. Instead, Ino sat down, and sighed. She looked down, shaking slightly.

    “I shouldn’t be feeling this shocked,” Ino whispered as she stared at her feet, making circles around the soft fabric of her pink rug. Hinata bit her lip, feeling guilty.

    “I’m sorry, Ino-chan…,” she sighed, placing her bookmark into the page, getting up to sit next to the blonde girl. “Shikamaru is a great guy… and he won’t ever hurt you. At least he pays attention to you, right?” She rubbed Ino’s back gently, looking at her reddened cheeks.  _Oh no, please don’t cry…_

    “Y-yeah… I tried so hard to get over him, and I didn’t realize until recently that Shikamaru is the one for me…” Ino whined. It was as if it were on cue, because Shikamaru walked straight into the dorm, wearing a button down with black pants. His hair was down, which shocked Hinata when she looked up at him–she never saw him with his hair down.

    “Hm? Why are you crying, Ino?” Shikamaru kneeled down in front of Ino, staring up at her. “Come on, let’s go. I’ll get you something nice.” Hinata smiled as she got back up, walking back to her side of the dorm, sitting back down on the floor next to the notebook Sasuke dropped.

    “Have fun tonight, you two.” Hinata said quietly, opening her book, blocking out the couple. She was finally able to finish the sentence she was stuck on for the past ten minutes as the two left. She sighed quietly as she turned the page, her mind drifting from one place to another. She looked at the clock, reading out 9:45 PM. She yawned quietly, turning the TV on. She liked that she could watch what she wanted when she was alone, mostly because she wouldn’t have to deal with anybody talking while she watched her favorite cooking shows. Hinata tied her long hair up into a messy bun, holding onto a small pillow as she watched her favorite cooking show–tonight they were cooking Indian food, which she wanted to learn how to make. She closed her eyes as she listened to the name of the spices, until everything became hazy, mind drifting into dreamland.


	2. Pairs?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Stephen King is probably Hinata's most favorite author of all time... of course, it gives her the advantage to be ahead in this class, which also leads to people wanting to copy off of her...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm so sorry ;A; I'm trying to be a good writer. Please feel free to send me feedback! I'm more than willing to take it (with a grain of salt, of course).

     It was as if the weekend ended with the blink of an eye, because Hinata was already sitting in Tsunade’s class, the same spot as she was on Friday, with Sasuke sitting behind her. She pulled out her lavender notebook and her black pen, then remembered Sasuke returning her notebook. She quickly turned around and opened her mouth, until he spoke first.

 

“Don’t be irresponsible again.” was all he said flatly. Hinata closed her mouth, felt her face become warm, and nodded. She turned back around, and stared at Tsunade, who eagerly and enthusiastically raved on about punctuation and grammar, and how wonderful it was to know the difference between ‘your’ and ‘you’re,’ ‘their,’ ‘there’ and ‘they’re’, and so on. Tsunade then continued her lesson with asking people how far they were in the book.

“Who is past the third chapter?” Tsunade asked. She looked around, seeing too little hands up–however, Sasuke and Hinata’s hands were both half-raised. Tsunade let out a small laugh. _She reads, but she doesn’t know how to watch her things_ , Sasuke thought.  _Tch_.

“Fortunately for those of you who are caught up, there is a reward for you. You’ll receive an email by tonight,” Tsunade stared directly in Hinata and Sasuke’s direction, then looked around the classroom again. “For those of you who aren’t caught up, I’m going to have to become stricter. Come back on Wednesday with a two-page journal entry on each chapter that we have to have done by then, which should be about 5 journal entries.” Tsunade really wasn’t joking around, because she walked around the classroom to check everybody’s books. When Tsunade came to Hinata’s row, she noticed the book covered in sticky notes and a bookmark. When she looked at Sasuke’s, she noticed the clean look of it, except a small piece of paper peeking through the fourth chapter of the book. Walking around the classroom, Tsunade also noticed some students who had been bookless, which was quite embarrassing for those students, especially since she openly insulted them on not being prepared for the class.

 

Halfway through class, Hinata quietly opened the book and stared at the fourth chapter, then back up at Tsunade, who had been hooking the projector screen with her laptop. Tsunade impatiently tapped the keys loudly, trying to find the right video preview of the movie of The Shining. Hinata smiled as she noticed the obvious irritated look on Tsunade’s face, letting out a very quiet giggle. She looked back at her book, reading the first few lines; halfway through a sentence, she felt a small tap on her right shoulder. She quietly gasped, eyes widening just a bit. She turned her head just slightly to see a slightly agitated Sasuke. Brows furrowed, she wondered why he tapped her shoulder.

“Can I help you?” He asked quietly, sarcasm hinted in his voice. Hinata blinked as she tilted her head.

“Why… did you tap on my shoulder?” She asked quietly. Sasuke stared at her blankly.

“I didn’t tap. The person to your right did.” Hinata quickly turned her head to look at a skinny boy sitting down, staring at her awkwardly. She could have sworn it was Sasuke who tapped her–it felt as if the tap came from behind, not next to her. She felt confused and stared at him momentarily.

“Y-yes?” she awkwardly asked. She quickly glanced to see what Tsunade had been doing. She finally managed to get the website right, all she needed to do was connect the sound with the projector.

“Give me the answers to the homework last night.” He asked, eyes playful. He smiled at Hinata, who was more shocked with what she had been told. How she managed to go this far without saying a word, she had no idea; it wasn’t until Tsunade let out a loud “A-ha!” that echoed throughout the whole room, and to some, through their bodies. Hinata hesitantly turned her head to look back at the screen, pretending she didn’t hear the guy. She stared at the screen, watching famous scenes in the trailer until she felt another tap on her right shoulder; she sighed again quietly and turned to look at the guy again.

 

“Yes?” she asked quietly. She couldn’t be rude–it wasn’t in her nature, no matter how much she didn’t like the situation. She felt her heart flutter just a little bit as the guy opened his mouth and stared at her.

“Answers?” he repeated. He pulled out a crumpled sheet from his notebook, pointing his stubby finger on an empty area.  _Why is he asking me?_  Hinata thought. She didn’t know how to answer him. She wanted to say no, but the word sounded too rude. She felt stuck, not wanting to help him cheat, nor wanting to look bad in front of him. Her lips parted just slightly but a string of stutters came out.

“I-I, um… W-well, um.. I-I don–”

“Leave her alone.”

Hinata immediately turned her head to see Sasuke, who had an obvious angry look on his face. His eyes were black, as if they were filled with malice. His straight face contrasted with his eyes; he didn’t break eye contact with the guy or did he blink.

“What the–”

“Leave. Her. Alone.” Sasuke repeated. Hinata could have sworn she saw an eye twitch, but she wasn’t sure–all she could do was stare with wide eyes and a dropped jaw.  _Where is this coming from_?

“Is there a problem?” Tsunade called, looking at Hinata, Sasuke, and the guy next to them. Hinata felt her cheeks heat up as a group of people turned their heads, staring at the three. Hinata froze, fidgeting her fingers. Sasuke sighed.  _Of course_ …

“No, there’s no problem.” Sasuke deadpanned. It was as if his eyes were softer as he stared at Tsunade, but still remained the usual hard expression. Hinata felt the eyes around the three of them turn back to face Tsunade. Until then, Hinata didn’t realize she had been holding her breath until she eased a little. Tsunade nodded, then continued with her lesson.

* * *

 

 

“Hinata, Sasuke, I need to see you both.” Tsunade called as the rest of the class exited the classroom.  _Oh, no…_  Hinata felt her head become a little light as she stared at Tsunade in horror, then back at Sasuke. Her heart pounded against her ribcage; she never got in trouble. She was always the good student, and she never had a negative note said about her, ever (besides how she barely ever spoke in class, but that was made up for by the ridiculously good grades she had). Hinata shakily picked her backpack up, holding onto her lavender notebook with the black pen in the spirals, walking carefully towards the front of the desk. Sasuke, impatient, walked quickly towards Tsunade’s desk silently.

As Hinata finally got to the desk, majority of the students had been gone, a few students remaining. Tsunade stared at Sasuke, and then at Hinata, then blinked. The black-haired girl gulped.

“I want to know if you two are being bothered.” Tsunade asked, eyes on Hinata. Hinata opened her mouth, followed by nothing but silence. A small stutter escaped as she tried to say something, but nothing came out after.

“No.” Sasuke said impatiently.

“What about you, Hinata?”

“I-I…,” Hinata quietly stuttered. “N-no…” Hinata quietly said.

“Are you sure? Because if there is anything going on, I want you both to tell me now. You both are ranked highest in my class based on the papers you’ve given me. I don’t want anyone to bother you with cheating.” Tsunade stared at Sasuke, who seemed to look outside the window. She moved her eyes to Hinata, who let out a sigh of relief.  _I didn’t get in trouble…_  She nodded quietly, eyes softening. She didn’t think the guy who bothered her earlier was harmful; she decided not to tell Tsunade about him.

“There won’t be any cheating.” Sasuke deadpanned.

“Good. Make sure that if anybody tries to pull anything, notify me immediately. Our policy is straightforward. If you cheat, you are kicked out. I know neither of you are cheating, but I know people will try to cheat off of you. Now, go on to your next class. I’ll see you on Wednesday.” Tsunade waved her hand off to them. With the blink of an eye, Sasuke disappeared. Hinata waved goodbye to Tsunade, nervously smiling. She walked outside of the classroom and headed to the next class, which, of course, Sasuke had, as well.

* * *

 

 

“Do you think Lee will get off my back?” Tenten whined as she stabbed her lettuce with a fork. She got the same thing as she always did–pasta and a salad. Hinata observed the irritable expression on her face and wondered if her cousin, Neji, knew about Lee.  _Of course he probably does… they’ve been a trio since we were kids_. Hinata smiled reassuringly.

“I’m sure Lee will understand if you let him know how you feel about Neji nii-san.” Hinata played with the remaining pieces of rice with her wooden chopsticks. Neji was ridiculously smart–he was already in his last semester of university, ready for his undergrad. She knew Tenten and Neji have been dating for a few months, now, too; she didn’t mind it–she enjoyed Tenten’s company, and she enjoyed listening to Tenten talk. She knew Tenten didn’t really have anybody who listened to her, and there were some things Neji didn’t need to know. Besides, she liked hearing the slightly embarrassing stories about her cousin. The two girls continued to finish their meals, conversing about their classes and assignments.

“Ah, Tenten?” Hinata questioned, folding her napkin and placing it on top of her plate.

“Yes, Hina-chan?”

“I’m a little bit… confused.” Hinata looked at her fingers as she played with them, fidgeting her index fingers together. She bit her lip slightly, trying to put her thoughts together.

“What’s wrong?” Tenten asked, taking Hinata’s plate and stacking it on top of her own.

“Do you remember Sasuke?” Hinata whispered.

“Yeah, what about him?”

“He’s in a lot of my classes, and today he stood up for me when one of the students tried to get me to give him the answers to our homework assignment… but I don’t know why he did it.” Hinata had half the mind that Sasuke wanted to be her friend, but she doubted that. She wondered if Sasuke was just annoyed of the person, and maybe that was it.

“Sasuke stood up for you?” Tenten asked curiously. “Why? That doesn’t sound very safe.” Tenten furrowed her brows, looking at Hinata. Sasuke didn’t exactly have the best reputation among Konoha, and a lot of people still didn’t particularly like him even years later.  _It’s not like he was really a bad guy, he was just… misunderstood._

Wait, was Hinata really mentally defending him? Her stomach churned.

“Who knows?” Hinata replied. Sasuke, of course, was popular among girls, though he never dated any of them… or maybe he did, Hinata had no idea, nor did she keep tabs on him in the first place. She simply remembered a handful of girls heartbroken from him, two of them being two of her friends, Sakura and Ino. Ino, of course, moved onto Shikamaru, and Sakura, well… she had Naruto wrapped around her finger without having to try.

Hinata felt her stomach cramp. She hadn’t thought of Naruto in a long time. Maybe Sakura had been dating Naruto. She knew he loved her. She knew Sakura would eventually love him.  _How could she not love him?_  Hinata shook her head, looking back at Tenten, who had been sipping her water.

“All I’m saying is you have to be careful. Don’t get wrap your head around him. He gives me a bad vibe, anyway.” The two girls picked their bags up, disposing their trash into the bin and walking off to their last class together, which, not surprisingly, Sasuke also had.

* * *

 

“Find a partner or two and finish the classwork. If it’s not finished, turn it in tomorrow.” Kakashi Hatake said carelessly, his feet propped up on the desk, nose in the book. Students shuffled into small groups and began discussing in numbers, along with plans for their upcoming weekend. Tenten and Hinata sat next to each other, comparing answers. Sasuke, on the other hand, had worked alone. Hinata quickly glanced over to see if he had a partner. Perhaps it was better that she didn’t look, because Sasuke had been staring at her.

With a small gasp, she quickly moved her eyes back to the paper, then over to Tenten, who had been engrossed in a word problem.

“T-Tenten,” Hinata mouthed; Tenten looked up, mouth parted as she mouthed the numbers in the problem. “He’s staring.”

“Pretend he isn’t looking.” Tenten whispered. She was sure he didn’t hear with the loud buzz around. The two girls continued to finish their problems, getting up together to bring two papers over to the stack of papers next to Kakashi’s ankles.

“You may leave when you’re done with your classwork,” Kakashi said coolly. “See you tomorrow.”

Hinata quickly grabbed her backpack, exiting the classroom. Tenten followed closely behind, giggling.

“Hina-chan, you worry too much.” Tenten said as they reached the dormitories. Hinata didn’t realize she was out of breath until they stopped in front of her dorm room, heart beating quickly.

“I guess…” Hinata said, breathing erratically.  _Calm yourself_. The black-haired girl waved at her friend as they mumbled a ‘see you tomorrow’ before parting. As Hinata entered her room, she sighed quietly and walked over to her bed, dropping her backpack and laying face down.

“Why is this happening to me?” Hinata mumbled into her bed.

“I don’t know, why is it?” Hinata gasped as she heard a deep voice; she turned around, eyes widened. 


	3. Misery Loves Company

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> How did Sasuke find his way to her dorm?! Better yet... why did he show up to her dorm?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'M SO SORRY. I KNOW. I KNOW, I SUCK AT TIME MANAGEMENT AND I SUCK AT WRITING. Forgive me, please. T-T

Hinata whipped her head around, staring at Sasuke, who had been standing in front of the opened door. 

“H-how did you find me here?” She stammered, eyes widened. 

“I followed you,” he replied flatly. “May I come in?”  _ What is going on _ ? She blinked.

“Y-yeah…,” she replied slowly. “Why… did you follow me?” she asked. She wasn’t creeped out by this--if anything, she was curious.

“Did you check your email?” He asked, entering her dorm; he closed the door behind him quietly, then slipped his shoes off. He walked over to the chair at the desk that had divided Ino’s and Hinata’s bed. While sitting down, he set his messenger bag down. He pulled out a black phone, caseless; he tapped on the screen a few times, pulling out his email.  _ Why did he follow me, though _ …

“N-no… I haven’t checked my email…,” She replied, staring at him; she wondered how he was so calm about being in her room. “What did it say?” 

“Tsunade picked us as partners for a project.” Sasuke deadpanned. He turned the screen around, facing Hinata. She leaned closer to read the email: 

FROM:  [ TSENJU@konohau.edu ](mailto:TSENJU@konohau.edu)

SUBJECT: PARTNERS FOR UPCOMING PROJECT

BODY:

For those of you who are ahead of the class, you are to do a side project. You two must watch any of the movies that are listed below with your partner that I chose for you, which is also listed below, after the movies; you are to write an essay together and explain how the writing style is connected with the movie.  If you have a reason to not be partnered up with the person I chose you to be partnered up with, let me know and we can fix it up. For now, these are the options for movies to watch:

  * CARRIE
  * STEPHEN KING’S ‘IT’ 
  * THE SHINING
  * CUJO
  * THE GREEN MILE
  * MISERY
  * THE SHAWSHANK REDEMPTION 
  * PET SEMATARY 
  * 1408 
  * CHILDREN OF THE CORN
  * CAT’S EYE



Pick a movie and email me with it. These are the partners I’ve set up together:

  * Choji & Sai
  * Kankuro & Karin
  * Shino & Kiba 
  * Sasuke & Hinata 
  * Sora & Haku 
  * Suigetsu & Gaara
  * Dosu & Tsuchi 
  * Kurotsuchi & Oroi



Since only 16 out of 40 of my students are ahead, you will be rewarded after you finish this assignment. The paper is due in two weeks! Whoever’s paper with the highest grade will not have to take the final exam at the end of this semester. If you  have any issues, please contact me. I will try my best to fix it. 

Good luck!

 

T. Senju

 

Hinata blinked once. Then twice. Then a third time. 

“Let’s get started. I don’t want to take the final.” Sasuke turned his phone and skimmed the email once more, then closed his app, setting his phone into the pocket of his black jeans. Hinata stared at his hands, then back at her backpack that had been leaning against her bed. 

“Okay…” she managed to say; her eyes were stuck on his pocket, still trying to digest Tsunade’s email.  _ We’re partners. He followed me to my dorm. What the hell is going on _ ? Hinata silently brought her fingertips to her temples and rubbed them, trying to calm her nerves; she felt as if her room was spinning and a million and one things were tackling her mind at once. Nothing seemed normal here. Where could she begin at just how awkward this was? 

Ever since childhood, she noticed how Sasuke had always been so stand-offish. Always stuck with a stone-cold, stoic expression, and never talking to anybody unless spoken to. Often times he would only respond with “You’re annoying,” or something that came out as a mumble that Hinata wouldn’t like. She remembered how every girl she was friends with was in love with him at some point in their lives. She remembered Sakura, and her infatuation with Sasuke. She remembered Ino, and her infatuation with him, as well. Who else had there been? Every girl who admitted her feelings to Sasuke was given the cold shoulder, and none of the girls received a smile. Hinata was never in love with Sasuke, but her heart always ached for his best friend, Naruto. 

_ Naruto. _

Who could forget Naruto? The blonde-haired, blue-eyed boy who obnoxiously tried to be better at everything. Strangely enough, Hinata was the only one to be interested in him, and had been since they were in primary school, all up until their high school graduation. Naruto never even noticed how in love with him she really was, even when her porcelain skin had turned red at the cheeks when they’d talk, or even when she stuttered at every word that escaped her lips when she talked to him, or even when she gave him all of her food when he left his at home when her stomach was growling horridly. 

It clicked in Hinata when she realized how every girl felt when they fell in love with Sasuke. The way they were in love with Sasuke was almost the same way Hinata was in love with Naruto. However, it didn’t mean that she wanted to tell Naruto how she felt. She was far too scared and afraid to do so. She tried to get over Naruto by trying to date other guys, like Kiba, back in her second year of high school, which only lasted a few months. 

Her mind wandered for what seemed like hours until she realized Sasuke had been staring at her, expression now irritated. 

“I don’t appreciate being ignored. Answer me.”

“H-huh?”

“What movie do you want to watch?” He asked, an obvious annoyed expression was drawn on his face. Hinata felt bad. 

“U-um… w-was Misery on the list?” she asked, wondering if Sasuke would be more annoyed. Surprisingly, he wasn’t. He nodded once.

“Good. I don’t want to rewatch the Shining.” Sasuke bent a little, reaching for his messenger bag to pull out his notebook; his raven-colored hair covered his face as he reached for a pen, clicking it as he sat back up, flipping his hair to the side. Immediately, Hinata reached for her backpack, pulling out her lavender notebook and black pen. She gently kicked off her shoes and crossed her legs on the bed, opening the notebook to a fresh page before she heard the door open. 

“Hina-chaaaaan, did you do the Finite h--” Ino stopped as she looked at Sasuke, who had turned around and looked at her with a blank expression. 

“Ino.” He said, acknowledging her. He turned back. Ino’s eyes were wide, and she dropped her jaw. Hinata’s pale eyes widened as she saw the horror in Ino’s face, and the blank expression on Sasuke’s. 

“I-Ino-chan, th-this isn’t what it looks like--” she started, hand raising as if she were going to say something. “--we’re partners for our creative writing class, a-and we’re studying!” 

Ino said nothing for a moment, then closed the door behind her. 

“Why are you two partners?” Ino asked, voice almost louder than normal. 

“Professor set us up,” Sasuke deadpanned. “Hyuuga. You said you liked reading Misery. Let’s take notes on the writing style.” Hinata stiffly turned her head from Ino to Sasuke, then back to Ino. With her pursed lips, she couldn’t tell if it was appropriate to speak. Ino opened her mouth as if she were going to say something again. 

“I’m going to Shikamaru’s dorm…,” she opened the door, glaring at the back of Sasuke’s head. “Don’t do anything stupid to my Hina-chan. I will end you.” She closed the door, almost slamming it. Hinata gulped, and let out a breath she realized she had been holding in. She stared at the blank notebook, trying to avoid Sasuke’s obvious annoyance. He rolled his eyes and sighed.  _ Typical _ . 

“A-anyways…,” she tried to lighten the mood by reaching her hand over to the desk that Sasuke had been sitting at--his eyes averted towards her hands, watching silently; Hinata shakily opened one of the drawers, pulling out an old book covered with sticky notes poking out of many pages. On the cover read  _ Misery _ , almost tattered. “I-I have some notes on the literary style…” she sheepishly whispered. She opened the book, which had small, scribbled notes on the margins of almost every page, underlines and highlights. Sasuke blinked.

“Why did you do that to your book?” He asked. 

“I-I’m a Creative Writing major, so I… I have to write in my books….” She replied.  _ Her, too? Well, shit.  _

“You don’t have to. I’m a Creative Writing major, too, but I don’t do that.” Sasuke began writing down a list of writing structures and styles. He looked over at the notes on the sides, intrigued that what he had written in her book was what he had been writing on the paper. With highlighted sentences came arrows pointing to the margins where scribbles of “alliteration” and “diction” had been written. Hinata sighed quietly, unsure on how to respond to him. She decided to avoid it, and continue to write in her notebook. 

Sasuke’s eyes had been switching between Hinata’s notebook and Misery. Though their assignment wouldn’t be due for another two weeks, he decided to get started on it and work his way through so it would be perfected.  _ I will refuse help from others. They might ruin the project. I don’t want to take that damn final _ . He then moved his eyes slowly from her hand, up to her face, focusing on the rosy cheeks and long eyelashes. She had been so engrossed in writing down everything neatly that she didn’t notice that Sasuke had been staring.  _ She has long eyelashes _ . 

“What did you write in your book?” He asked, staring at her eyelashes. She looked up, noticing his stare. She felt her face warm up as she looked at him, and he got an idea why--perhaps his stare was too hard. He didn’t mean to have such a hard stare, it was just the way he was. The long-haired Hyuuga stared at her notes, then her book. She handed it over to him carefully. 

“I, um... wrote descriptions of Paul Sheldon… and Annie…,” she started. “In a couple of the chapters, there’s repetition.” She sat up, almost as if she were going to get up, but she didn’t. Sasuke felt as if, perhaps, she had wanted to sit with him, but alas, she stayed where she was.  _ What do I want? _

“I haven’t read the book,” he said, skimming through a few pages, reading the annotations and highlights. “What is it about?” He really tried to hold a conversation with her. Hinata felt just a tad suspicious. 

“A famous author gets into a bad car accident and gets saved, but... the person who saves him claims that she is his number one fan. She’s obsessed with him and holds him hostage into her house. She’s, um, also… a little bit strange…” Hinata trails off, cheeks redder.  _ Why do I find this cute? _

“Strange how?” Sasuke wrote a few notes, listening to Hinata explain. 

“She doesn’t like swearing, she also has a lot of trinkets… and she has a lot of pigs for pets…” she continued on with the little things that made her strange, and then the bigger things about her that made her stranger, wondering if Sasuke was weirded out that she liked the book at all. Sasuke silently wrote as much as she spoke; but mostly, he stared at her as he wrote. He wanted to watch the movie from how Hinata described it. It sounded like a movie that would have had him engrossed. 

“Do you own the movie?” He asked. 

“No…”  _ Shit _ . 

“Is there a stream link?” 

“I don’t know…”  _ Hyuuga, we need to get an A on this project _ . 

“I’ll find one.” He said, voice monotone. Hinata nodded her head and thought about what to do next. She pulled out her phone, seeing 1 missed call and 4 text messages… all from Ino. Hinata sighed quietly and decided to read them later, because she needed to get the beginning of the project over with. She opened her mail app and saw Tsunade’s e-mail. She opened it and re-read it through. 

“Explain the writing style with the movie… how?” Hinata asked herself, thinking for a moment. “S-Sasuke-kun, may I see my book for a moment?” she had a small thought in her head. He reached the tattered book over to her, eyes glued to hers. She slowly leaned forward, reaching her slender arm to the book he held in a light grasp. For some reason, a little tickle threatened her nose and she felt her eyes water immediately. Without stopping, she parted her lips as her eyes squinted; her slender nose had scrunched just slightly as the tickle in her nose evolved into a harsh sneeze, eyes screwed shut and head lowered to the floor. 

 

What had been worse, was that as she opened her eyes, the floor was inches from her face. As a loud gasp threatened her throat as she realized she was falling; it was less than a second later when strong hands gripped onto her wrist, pulling her up with a jerk. Pale eyes widened as she looked up, seeing black eyes looking down at her, straight face and all. For a moment, she wasn’t sure how something so fast could happen--she was reaching for the book, and for some reason, her butt decided to slip along the lavender sheets on her bed. She felt her face heat up and she was sure her wrist was red from the tight grip he  _ still _ had on her wrist. 

“Be careful,” He said flatly. “You could have broken your nose.”  _ Klutz _ . Wide eyes met his as she opened her mouth to say something.

“Thank y--”

“Here.” The raven-haired male let go of her hand, using his other hand to hand her the tattered book. She quietly took the book, nodding her head. She straightened up, and sat back on her bed--this time, further back to keep herself from falling. She lost her train of thought and frowned, still taking the book anyway. She skimmed through each page, wondering if it would come back. 

“Annie’s obsession with Paul Sheldon was blatant from the beginning, but it still escalated into something more extreme. Stephen King’s motive wasn’t to give the audience the dramatic irony effect, his motive was to make the audience fall for the psychotic encounters and keep reading.” Hinata said, almost too fast, too--she was sure Sasuke would have picked it up. She quickly wrote what she said, then looked up at the raven-haired Uchiha, who had been staring at her. 

“H-huh?” She asked, confused. 

“Nothing, you’re just smarter than I thought you were.”


End file.
